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Thanks to ehanner, I had another hairbrained idea...

Thanks to ehanner, I had another hairbrained idea...

Well, I dont want to hijack Erics thread so I figured I would put up a new blog for my latest crazy idea. Pickled garlic. Now I know, its not bread, but heh, I had bagels proofing when I got into this so it must count somehow.

After talking Garlic with Eric, I thought to myself "self, I can surely figure out pickled garlic". And off to the world wide web I go. I get hit with about a hundred or so recipes, not two alike, so great. Lets go with what seems to be the best rated. So I settle in on a nice Garlic festival website, with a pickled garlic recipe that the folks seemed to love. Now here is the basis of the recipe.

4 cups White Distilled Vinegar

1 1/3 cup sugar

Then anykind of flavor additive you would like to add, mustard seed, hot pepper, dill, whatever.

You take a sterilzed jar, and you mix up your liquids, bring to a boil in a non-metal pot (which I used a teflon coated pot) And once at boil, you boil for 5 minutes. Then you add your peeled garlic cloves and boil for an additional 5 minutes. Then you pore into your jars, put the covers on and place in the fridge for 3 weeks before consumption.

Easy enough it sounds right. So here I am with 30 heads of garlic, and the big grin on my mug of me making pickled garlic. After setting at my kitchen table for what seemed like 30 or 40 years I look into my jar to see I have only peeled about 25 cloves. So I do what any smart fella does and I recruit backup. In comes my 13 year old daughter, who after looking at me like I just told her she had to change the oil in the truck in a snow storm, she sets in to help. So now the two of us continue to peel garlic cloves. The outer dry parts come off easy, but the fine skin, well that just about makes a man cry after a while. So after what seemed like forever, I have 4 jars of peeled garlic cloves. I swear my kid grew a couple inches while we were there. So now onto making the liquid.

Now let me let you in on a little secret. When you boil vinegar, in your kitchen, for 10 MINUTES, you should probably invest in a gas mask. Or maybe a jet engine to force fresh air through your home. Now being a fairly smart fella, I was really surprised to see that I didnt see this coming. SO after about 6 minutes into boil, my daughter pleads mercy, and begs to be released from the kitchen. I kindly inform her that "darling, were in this together, you stay.". Sometimes being a parent is rough.....

Now at 7 minutes in I add my flavorings. I like hot and spicy so in goes. 2 Teaspoons Mustard Seed, 2 Teaspoons of my own grown, and ground Thai hot pepper, and 3 cut up Habeneros. So by minute 8 you can already imagine what my kitchen is like. If you close your eyes and imagine a swat team is about to raid your house but before they enter they throw 4 tear gas grenades in through the open window that you have because you are trying to get a strong vinegar smell out of your kitchen.

So now, my back door is open, my 2 kitchen windows are open, snow is blowing in through the windows, and my daughter and I are trying to maintain some sort of normal breathing pattern. The 10 minute mark couldnt have gotten there any sooner. When that buzzer went off saying my 10 minutes were up, the time that pot came off the stove to the time the 4 bottles were filled, outsides wiped clean, and into the fridge was about 2.5 seconds. Well, maybe not not quick, but I barely remember any of it, it was so fast. The dogs are no where to be found, they are hiding in some far off part of the house. My youngest is watching tv in the living room in her jacket, and thank god my wife was out for the afternoon doing a craft fair. We cleaned up my mess, I went back to my bagels, we shut the windows after our house temp dropped to about 40. And 5 hours later when my wife returned she says "Honey, the house kinda smells like hot wings"

Me and my great ideas. I'll post photos later today of the end results, along with my Cinn./Cranberry bread I made (another idea). The worst part is I have to wait 3 weeks just to see if the garlic is any good. Ha,ha,ha......

Comments

No, nothing says "Oh God, my eyes, my sinuses! The pain!" quite like a good snort of hot vinegar. Except maybe a kitchen full of freshly grated horseradish. That's us every Fall, right before making dill pickles (with lots of vinegar and garlic). Happily, the pickle in our recipe only needs to come to a boil, not go for 10 minutes. Amazing how it can spread through the whole house...

I almost asphyxiated a few months back, by using a microwave to soften up a dried Chipotle pepper. It started to smoke within the microwave that was set too high for too long, and when I snatched open the door I was blasted with a ball of pepper smoke right in the face. I was home alone and was immediately unable to breath in or out. I went out onto my deck as I started to see stars swimming in front of my eyes and my vision starting to tunnel, I began to consider calling 911 then I realized my error, I left the phone inside. I was on my hands and knees and was coughing and gagging , but finally managed to breath in a little fresh air. It was 1 hour before I was able to re-enter the house. Funny thing was when my wife came home she too mentioned something about the house smelling "spicy" too.

Mine never got as bad as to drop me to my knees, but I wont soon forget it. I must also add to others out there that - "No animals, humans, or even children were actually harmed in my little experiment".

Great story though mkelly.

And edh, I can't wait, I sure hope it was worth it..Oh and freshly grated horseradish, I like that too. Never tried to make my own, huh, maybe I shall put this on my list of things to try...

One of my "most onerous" kitchen-prep tasks is opening and peeling garlic to get the cloves ready for food processing! There just HAS to be a better way! What's the secret?

If the garlic clove will be chopped, place it on a cutting board under the flat side of a broad knife and give the knife a sharp whack with your free hand, breaking open the clove. You will be able to remove the peel easily, probably in one piece. If the cloves are going to be used whole, drop them in boiling water for a minute or two and they will peel easily.

Another option that came by way of a reader, is to drop unpeeled garlic cloves into a glass of cold water and let them sit for 1/2 hour or more. Our reader starts cooking by dropping a half to a whole head of garlic (separated into cloves) into the water. By the time she needs them, they "pop out of their skins almost as easily as blanched almonds." Slicing the top off the cloves works even more quickly. She refrigerates unused garlic in the water for use the next day. Clearly she consumes substantial amounts of garlic.

My husband would love that combo! His Thai food is hot enough if his eyeballs are sweating! Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do with those dynamo garlic cloves, eat them like pickles? You may be sleeping alone a few nights!

Yep, mostly I eat them like pickles. I love Garlic, and I was introduced to the pickled type about a year or so ago. One of my uncles had brought them to our family 4th of July get together. At first I was kinda skeptical, I thought, a whole garlic clove eaten at once. That sounds nuts. But after watching my uncle eat some, I gave it a go. It was great. He had brought a hot type, and one made with dill seed. I loved the hot ones. The flavor is great, and from what I had read, it still holds alot of its healthy properties even though it is pickled.

As for the Thai peppers. If you have room for a garden, you should grow some. They are one of the most wonderfully easy things to grow. Peppers in general are very robust plants. When I planted Thai peppers this year I put in 6 plants. And they were the first plant to produce, and the last still producing in my garden. They lasted right up till the first snow fall in late November. They have about 3-400 peppers on a plant at one time. They replace themselves rapidly after being picked. And for heat, mine were of the group that have about a 150,000 scoville. I once built up the courage (or foolishness) to bite the tip off one of the peppers. Yeah, wouldnt suggest that to anyone. Anyways, after I pick them I will either cook with them fresh, or I tie a whole bunch, by the stems, onto a 2' length of string, all the way down. Then I hang the length of peppers in my pantry to dry. After I dry them for a month or so and they are all crunchy, I remove them and grind them up in a little food processer. Here is a photo of a jar of some.

in last years garden. This year we planted jalapenos and hot hungarian wax peppers. My husband is always telling me "it's not that hot, take a bite"..I have learned to take an itsy bitsy bite. We love garlic, horseradish and wasabi. Wasabi is like an addiction..I dip my sushi in, take a bite and my eyes squeeze tight, my sinuses explode till I can hardly stand it. You exhale, say whew..Ah.. and then I just have to do it again..YUM! I like hot and spicy too..but I know you two have burnt out taste buds!!! : )

It has happened to me on occasion, that in making garlic pickles, I've had them turn blue, a nice light touch of aqua blue. Nice color but really not appetizing. The only thing I can figure out is that the cloves were sprouting at the time. For what it's worth...

I like the lemonjuice salad marinade on mine. Put a lid on the boiling vinegar. :)

Mini there you go trying to help a bunch of men stumbling around the kitchen making trouble. We like it when it's a disaster, that's half the fun. The day I pushed a 1.5 lb dough off the back of the stone onto the heat coils, the fire detector was still going off when my wife came home. Chaos is my middle name! Hehehe

TT you're an inspiration. Maybe I'll just have to try that out. I think I might start out with a large jar of peeled cloves from Sams. What do you get without any spices I wonder? The garlic is pretty hot all by itself.

I noticed already that one of the cloves in the jar has turned light blue, mainly toward the cut end of it, I thought I had a bad clove, I wasnt sure. Did the clove taste off to you? Or was it still o.k. to eat

The garlic cloves in our dill pickles often turn that lovely sky blue color; don't worry, it's just color, they're still fine to eat. I always thought it was the cucumber that caused it; the one time we put up a whole jar of plain cloves they didn't turn color. hmm.

If you like spicy, TT, you've got to plant some horseradish! It's a bit high maintenance, in that you have to dig it up every year to keep it from taking over the neighborhood, but you grate most of it up and just stick a few pieces back in the ground for next year. The freshly grated stuff bears no resemblance to the store bought. Just grate it on the fine side of the grater, keep a window open, a fan running, and put the results in a jar with a bit of salt and vinegar to cover it. DON'T SNIFF THE CONTENTS OF THE JAR! It'll take your head right off, but there's nothing like it on a hamburger.

Don't even try to grate your horseradish indoors! Unless, of course, your favorite part of basic training was the time in the bunker with the tear gas and no mask. Do the horseradish outdoors, preferably on a breezy day. The fumes are enough to stun an ox if you let them build up in an enclosed space.

If I were to plant any, I'd try to do it in some kind of container. Even if you dig it up every year, some little bit of root will be left in the ground and start a new colony of the stuff. This stuff is as invasive as bamboo or bermuda grass or kudzu. If you love horseradish, you'll probably think that's pretty cool. If you want to try to grow anything else, you'll probably hate it.

I have had many a jar of store bought. Even some pretty good stuff from the farmers market. But never any of my own. When I am feeling sick I will eat a horseradish sandwich. Just about 1/4" of horseradish on two slices of bread. Clears the sinuses right up. I will look into it for sure for next seasons garden. Do you all buy it in a seed form, or already as a root? I dont remember seeing any at the local Agway (our local farm supply house). Thats where I get the majority of my garden supplies.

Now edh, you mention it grows like wild fire, but how much would you guess it yields in a year. A couple feet?, yards? or what do you think? My buddy I work with loves the stuff as well. I know he would be interested in a bunch.

And Eric, no the daughter got out of changing the oil last weekend, but she'll be under the truck with me changing it this weekend. At 13, she can already wire all household electric, does a little drywall, and is fairly good with plumbing, although she doesnt like the smell much. But I want my kids to be able to get to adulthood, and not rely on a man to do things for them, that they can do themselves. Whats even better is if I can teach them more than their future husband might know.

My mother grew up working on cars and such (grandfather had a garage, and auto parts store), and she is the one I call if I run into a problem I am not sure about.

Anyways, thanks all, I am glad my garlic is acting like others have had it. And I look forward to learning more about horseradish....

TatooedTonka, I hope your kids appreciate their 'education'--and they will later if they don't now. we've got a neighbor with a similar background, you can easily find her working on the house or wiring while her husband makes dinner and tends the kids. She was also running a chainsaw and and taking down trees for lumber and firewood while she was pregnant.

Unfortunately, I grew up in a household where not even the men could get the better of a burned-out lightbulb...

But in my present home, it's me picks up what the cats bring in--the guys are too squeamish.

I completely agree with you on the raising of kids. I bought my son an old Monte Carlo which we worked on together as his first car. When he went off to school he was the only one among his friends who even change a tire never mind the brakes. His younger sister is getting the same treatment.

Actually, PMCools comments relate directly to your question about yield, TT. The patch is about 4 feet square (kept to that size by ruthless digging and weeding of the adjacent herb bed), but as for yield, it yields as much as we can stand to grate.

Sort of embarrassing, but I never thought of doing the grating outdoors. Duh. We usually fill one or two quart jars before being admitted to the acute respiratory unit.

Eric- That video with the Snap On phillips screwdriver is great. I was watching it thinking " I never thought of using a screwdriver to mix stiff doughs,duh"

Edh, and PMcCool, I am all jazzed up about getting some horseradish planted this upcoming year. And I like the website of millernurseries. I like to see the photos of what the plants should look like.

And to go back to something Mini O posted earlier. I did think about putting a lid on it during boil. But I didnt know if the boil was suppose to go uncovered so that the evaporated steam could escape leaving a thicker remaining liquid. I thought if I lidded it, the evaporated gas would just reincorperate leaving the end liquid the same consistency as I started. I guess I was overthinking it. I chalk it up as a learning exerience.

Ground CayenneHere's a photo of some of this year's cayenne peppers drying in the buttery and a photo of what's left of last years crop. We also grow the Thai Hot but don't grind them, just let them dry whole. We always grind OUTSIDE. I should say my husband grinds them. Even though he puts them in a jar before coming in and dusts everything off, I (and whoever might be here) still start coughing when he comes indoors. But it's Oh so good. I put the cayenne on my eggs every morning.

Does anyone grow the red pepper that looks hot but it's not that I think is called Jimmy Nardello. I bought some at the Farmers Market in Minneapolis this summer when we were visiting our daughter. They were great fried and dried very well. I have to look for seeds for next year. Anyone know about these.

We never grew horseradish just because we heard so often how out of control it gets. There is always someone sharing a root or it can be bought at the farmers mkt. for grinding at home.

Your pickled garlic looks yummy TT. We grow at least 400 or more bulbs of garlic every year. There are two of us here! But we deliver lots to our kids when we go off visiting them in FL, MN, OH and TX and share lots with friends.

Your photos are great. I have never heard the phrase "buttery". Is that another name for pantry? I really like the ol' jar the pepper is in, and the surrounding tins and such. SO neat. Im kinda nosey so I have to ask, is that an old coffee grinder in the background of the peppers hanging? Sorry, I just find your stuff so cool.

Ive never heard of a Jimmy Nardello, but as to what to do with the pickled garlic, I eat them like I would little pickles. Some slice them up to add to a sandwich, or a salad. I just like 'em whole.

You have a Citizens Wholesale Supply coffee grinder? You are cool.. I assume you know already the history of it, and rough value, but that IS neat. There are not many of those left around anymore. And the fact your is still functional goes to show the quality of craftmanship from that era (1900-1920's). Not like our disposable plastic appliances of today.

No, unfortunately, no bread tonight. I got home from work and Im a little under the weather. Already had my big ol' bowl of chicken soup, probably have a horseradish sandwich in a little bit. Thanks for the Butt'ry reply, that sounds better to me than pantry. I learned yet another thing today. Super. ;)

Browndog, the butt'ry is off my kitchen. I use it to store everything for the kitchen but I ran out of room for yet more flour! I like to use the old things, who knows why. I must still be in another era. If you come to Ohio come visit. I usually have a few spiders in the corners...but no snakes.

TT, I don't know the history of the Golden Rule. I've had it so long that if I did know at one time I forgot. I sure hope you're feeling better. A horseradish sandwich Oh My. weavershouse

But only for the night, Im starting to come around though. You might not be interested in the next little nugget of info., but, in case you are.

In the early 1900's, Citizens Wholesale Supply Co. made a bunch of different items, candy, medicine, foods and coffee. Their blend of coffee was called "Golden Rule", as was their food line. The coffee was such a hot item that they had Arcade Mfg. make them a coffee grinder just for their line of coffee. Citizens Wholesale was based in Ohio, and Arcade Mfg. in Illinois.

Arcade Mfg. Co. made little cast iron household coffee grinders until the early 30's when they began making tools. They were bought out by Rockwell in 1946, who is now Delta. As in Delta power tools (tablesaws and such).

Currently these little gems are selling for around $450- $600 u.s. depending on condition and if it has all original parts.

I never did any research on the coffee grinder, just hung it up probably 20 years ago. It's all there and we used it everyday for years then decided to give it a rest. I can't imagine anyone paying that much for a coffee grinder. That was interesting information and I read the iron front and sure enough it says Citizens Wholesale Suppy Co. Columbus Ohio. Thanks TT. How did you get that info?

I hope you're feeling a lot better soon...you got bread to make! Have another sandwich. weavershouse

I have a sponge for Pain Rustique on the counter for morning. As well as four pizza doughs I made tonight in the fridge to bake for lunch on Saturday.

As for the old coffee grinder. I work on coffee and espresso equipment for a living. I am always looking up old brewers, and grinders on the internet to find parts and diagrams to fix things for folks. The internet is a great source for information on things that are out of production. I came across one similar to this some months past, thats why yours looked familiar.

This is the kind of conversation I call a Bunny Trail. My husband has bought half a dozen used espresso machines and tinkered them back to health. I'll remember you as a resource for future projects. We currently are using a full size Astoria commercial and it's the best yet! Now you can really proof bread on top of that baby. It warms half of the house and the dogs love to sleep near it!

I also enjoy vintage housewares of all kinds and use them to the extent that they are beyond repair. I've wrecked some really dandy articles; I say that I am helping other people's antiques to appreciate! Anyone have a nice old bread trough?

TT,
Which kind of thai peppers do you grow? Are they the little bird's eye ones, or something else? We always plant them, but have had pretty pathetic results the last few years; I'm talking one crop of 5-6 peppers per plant.

Of course, I realize that a cool, wet, foggy climate might not be quite the perfect growing zone, but honestly, 3-400 per plant; I'm deeply jealous! The horseradish is great, but leaves something to be desired in a stir-fry...

Thats the book description, here is a photo I found on a site of what they look like (silly me, never took any photos of my plants at peak).

But as you can see, they grow upright in tight little groups. My plants were thick at the base about 1- 1/2" thick, and more like a little bush, than a plant. My bushes were about 2' tall and had oodles of peppers all over them. I will look around and see if I have any more specific info on the ones I had. They were very hardy. Really hardy, we got hit with a bunch of rain for a couple weeks straight, that didnt bother them. We had a couple weeks of 90' weather, they had no issues, and they lived through the first frost. I was real impressed with these little buggers.

Those do look and sound a little different than the ones we have grown. Ours have a smaller plant, with fruit that hangs down, individually. Clearly I'm going to have to look around for a different seed supplier, at least for Thai peppers!

Wow, great looking peppers! Yep horseradish, have a root in the fridge. Grate it whenever I need some. Nothing like a fresh boiled frankfurter (or a pair) with some good mustard and fresh grated horseradish to dip into. Also good with air dried bacon. Oh and with a chunk of that freshly baked french stick.

Ah yes.... Something crossed my mind about planting the stuff. The roots go deep so the folks in these parts recommend putting down large flat rocks (about 1 1/2 feet down) under your plants to control the unwanted spreading. (makes for fatter roots too!)

And another thing to do with left over bread is to drop it (all torn up of course) into hot boiling beef soup stock and add lots of grated horseradish (so it has some kick) and whip it together like mashed potatoes. Serve with the roast beef. A little horseradish is good in red beet salad too.

If you bite into too much horseradish there is a quick cure: Quickly tear off some fresh bread and inhale it's aroma fast and deep through your nose. Just stick your nose into it! Works almost 100% but you gotta be quick! :)

Mini, I think you've inspired me, but I need a little more info. My idea of roast beef heaven used to be heavy cream, beaten until it was just thickened, not whipped, then mixed with lots of horseradish (more horseradish than cream). Now dairy is verboten (forgive my spelling), but I'm thinking what you described sounds even better; not so sort of greasy like cream can be? So do I use just enough stock to make it sort of like mashed potatoes? We've just ordered the Christmas roast from a local farm, so I'm dreaming of Christmas dinner already...

Another question, if TT doesn't mind the thread-jack; I've wondered about keeping the root whole and grating as needed. How long does it keep? The ground is long since frozen and covered with snow and ice here, but next year... I love our homemade stuff, but it loses it's kick after not too long a while, and I'd love to have it fresh!

I'm going to have to stick some big flat rocks in the ground next time we dig it all up...

parafin or wrapped tightly with several layers of plastic wrap. If you have a root cellar, even better. I just scrape off (or use a potato peeler) on the outside skin for the amount I plan to grate leaving the plastic on the upper thicker root. Grate with a box grater from fine to shreaded and re-wrap when done. (If the vapors are too strong, grate under the exhaust fan, wetting the root before you grate also helps.) I do think there are "best" times of the year to harvest the roots, starting in October or Autumn. I tried growing it in the tropics with no success.

The "SemmelKren" or Bread Horseradish is fairly easy and I will scrounge up a recipe for ya. (honestly, never used one myself...) The cream/horseradish stuff you mention is good with cold cut beef... super thin slices filled and rolled up... had it first time at my wedding. Like you say, heavenly rich stuff!

Horseradish can be blended with apple sauce and processed to keep it longer. I will check on a few things and get back to you. My son has been making his own jerky lately, really good stuff!

The bread just came out of the oven... I just found the above link and wow, no recipe for Semmelkren. No problem, I will share a specialty with y'all. Basically for about 4 servings, it is about one cup (250ml) of beef soup to 3 kaiser rolls (cubed torn or sliced up) maybe a spoon of butter, some salt, 2 Tablespoons or more of grated horseradish and a strong whip and arm. Boil the soup, soak the bread into it. return to heat and whip in the horseradish, maybe a dash of cream (optional) Serve hot next to beef. Takes 10 minutes to make.

I'll be adding SemmelKren to the Christmas table next week! Sounds like it should have a white-ish sort of bread, so I'll have to bake a loaf or two, shucks. I'll have to replace the butter with something, but I'm getting pretty good at that...

just leave it out. Important is that the soup is good and if you think the Semmelkren is too dry add a little bit more. It should not be as firm as Turkey dressing and should act more like mashed potatoes.

The Garlic was 50/50. 2 of the bottles were excellent. I took one to a family gathering on New Years Day, and it was a huge hit. My family is easily impressed I guess. The second bottle I took to work and we had it all gone by lunch time. The other two bottles however, I must have done something wrong to. I had mentioned some post ago that they some were turning light blue. Well, by the end, the garlic in these two bottles were very blue. When I bit into one, it was not very pleasent at all. So down the drain those two bottles of garlic went.

Overall I was very pleased with the edible ones. It will be awhile before I undertake this again though.

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